Happy Beads are Happy!

So, what’s a girl to do with a whole bunch of sentimentally important beads she recently cut out of their hempy, hippie homes?

WHY, make wine glass charms, of course!

…can’t make wine glass charms without a *little* bit of crochet…

And the best part?  These little bad boys are hinged, so they’re easy to remove!

(Why, yes, OBVIOUSLY I had to drink a bit of wine while I made them…)

And, because I never, EVER get carried away, I absolutely did NOT go digging through my craft supplies for more beads, which I ABSOLUTELY did not turn into more wine glass charms.  Nope.  Not even a little bit.

 

these beads used to be a bracelet...

 

I removed this butterfly from an anklet to make it bracelet-sized. Let's face it... grown ups don't wear anklets, either.

 

these guys are from The Bead Mine in Pittsburgh... gosh, I miss Pittsburgh.

AAAAAnywho, no more sad comments, okay friends?  I have now upcycled, repurposed, and otherwise transformed my very favorite beady beads into functional, pretty, *way* more adult-ish type things.  YAY!

Pinot Noir, anyone?  =)

Free Pattern Friday: Pom Pom Flowers!

So, there’s not really much crochet in this pattern, but it’s quick, easy, and fun.

is it a flower? is it a faery wand? does it belong to Dr. Seuss?

Caution: If you are a perfectionist, give it up now.  This is not the project for you.

You’ll need:  two different colors of yarn, a 12 inch, 3mm pipe cleaner, and a G-sized crochet hook.

1. Wrap some yarn around three of your fingers about 65 times.

don't wrap too tightly or your fingers will turn blue.

2. Take the wrapped yarn off your fingers and cut another piece of yarn (in the same color) about 5 inches long.

it's warm, oh yes, but it's not fuzzy yet...

3. Tie the 5″ piece of string around the loops (in the center) as tightly as you can.

Aww, isn't it cute?

4. Cut all the loops.

...it's GROWING...

Aaah! It's the flying spaghetti monster! Halp!

5. Trim around your tiny spaghetti monster until he looks reasonably ball shaped. If you’re spending more than about 45 seconds on this step, you’re spending too much time.  Give up now or you’ll be micro-trimming for the next six hours.

PRO TIP: If you are using light yellow yarn, DON’T sit on a black comforter to do your trimming… Unless, of course, you feel like lint-rolling your entire bed.

6. Take the 12″ pipe cleaner and fold it in half.

this is what a folded in half pipe cleaner looks like.

 

7. With the second color of yarn and your crochet hook, chain 25 or so – just make sure your chain is the same length as your pipe cleaner.

 

8. With the bent edge closest to your hook, hold the pipe cleaner next to your chain and start a single crochet in the second ch.  When you’ve gone through the chain and are about to yarn over, put the pipe cleaner on your hook.

 

I switched to pink yarn so this would be easier to see...

 

9. Complete the single crochet as usual.

 

this is what the "front" will look like after a few stitches

 

10. Pinch the two sides of the pipe cleaner back together, and from now on treat them like one strand.  Continue to sc across, carrying the pipe cleaner along as you would a strand of yarn in a color change.

 

the back of your pipe cleanery friend

 

11. When you get to the end of the chain, stop. Cut a piece of yarn, about 5 inches again, with the same color you made the pom pom.  Thread it through the “top” of your stem (the end with the pointy bits of the pipe cleaner).

 

the finished pipe cleaner

 

threading color 1 through the top of the stem

12. Now thread the other end of your yarn through the needle so it looks like this:

13. Shove the needle up through the center of the pom pom (Sorry, I couldn’t think of a non-dirty way to say that…). Push the pointy ends of the pipe cleaner up into the pom pom a bit further – this will add some stability.

14. Tie the two long strands in a tight square knot and trim them to the same length as the rest of your pom pom, and…  VOILA!  FINISHED!

I’m actually going to be turning these little beauties into something other than flowers… You’ll have to stay tuned to see what they become!  Happy Hooking!  })i({

 

Sad Beads are Sad.

You may be wondering how old is too old to wear hemp.  Well, I’ll tell you.  It’s 31. (Actually, it’s much younger than that – seventh grade, I think, but at 31 most people realize if they continue to wear hemp people will stop taking them seriously and start asking them for rolling papers).

 

I'll miss you, my hippie friends...

For some reason It just seemed weird to wear this:

 

mmm...delicious Tacori...

and this:

just look at how well worn those are! I loved them...

at the same time.

Yes, I’ve been wearing my wedding rings for years now, but it was only last weekend, when I cleaned out my jewelery box, that I finally worked up the courage to disassemble my three favorite hempy necklaces, which, though I’ve had since high school, I haven’t worn for darn close to ten years (ugh, I’m old).

See that whale tail bead?  It’s actually hand carved out of an Alaskan whale’s tooth.

See that red and gold bead?  My best friend from high school gave it to me.

See those blue glass beads?  I bought those in college while discovering Radiohead and realizing that some boys are better friends than boyfriends.

So.

 

my Chibi gave me the daisy bead... isn't it sweet?

 

The search is on to discover something classy, age appropriate, and less…erm… Rastafarian to make with these, my now hemp-less favorite beads.  Any ideas?